The Shy Driver

The Biggest Decision

That evening, Jack and his family went out to the movies, while Fluttershy stayed home. Lorraine was concerned for her safety, but Carter insisted that keeping a shy person (er, pony) in a loud, noisy place wasn't the best idea.

"I'll be fine," Fluttershy reassured her. "I have a quiet, safe neighborhood to live in and if I get scared I have Pat, as well as my animal friends. Besides, I should keep a tab on any missed phone calls."

With the family gone at the movie theater, Fluttershy had the house to herself. To begin with, she fixed herself with a bowl of fresh fruit and flipped on the TV to see if any late episodes of The Suite Life On Deck had started yet. She enjoyed it for its interesting and slapstick humor that Pinkie Pie would crave. But nothing was on yet, apart from boring old news and the newest Colorado Rockies baseball game.

Shutting off the TV, Fluttershy walked back upstairs to Carter's room, and suddenly remembered how messy it was. Wouldn't it be nice if I cleaned it up as a surprise? she thought. It would make him happy...

Fluttershy followed her instincts and began sorting out the room. She filed papers by various categories and arranged them in neat piles on the desk. She used a cloth to wipe down the dirty laptop and used an old fork to scrape gum and gunk off the desk itself, and then tossed all the dirty clothes into a hamper and carried it down to the laundry room. Later, she changed the pillowcases and vacuumed the whole floor, then sprayed rose-scented Febreeze everywhere. The room now was fit for both her and Carter.

She wanted to wash the clothes, but didn't know how to operate the machine. From what she had seen back in Equestria, clothes were washed with soap and water. Maybe it would work better if I used the hose, she thought.

Fluttershy set to work washing the stinky clothes. She dragged a large plastic basin out to the backyard, dumped some of the dirty clothes into it, poured some detergent and baking soda over it, then unscrewed the hose faucet and gave the clothes a real hard spray. As she sprayed, Fluttershy used her hooves to scrub and toss the clothes about in the basin until they were thoroughly covered in the soap. After more than five minutes of continuous washing and scrubbing, she rinsed them until no more soap was left, disposing of the dirty soapy water in the laundry room sink. Once she had the process down, laundry was actually enjoyable.

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Finally, after a full half hour, the clothes were fully washed.

"Hope everypony will appreciate my efforts," Fluttershy thought, as she wrung the wet, clean clothes tightly over the laundry room sink and hung them on a rack. To help the clothes dry a little faster, she dragged over a portable heater from the garage, plugged it in, turned it up to medium, and placed it near the clothes rack.

Darkness had fallen by the time the family arrived home, and Fluttershy was right there to greet them.

"Hi everypony!" she said happily, fighting back a yawn. "How was the movie?"

"Oh, it was great!" Ashley said excitedly. "There was this big dinosaur that escaped, and the kids running and a woman trying to handle a big situation and—"

"—It was an amazing and epic movie," Carter cut in, clearly annoyed by his little sister droning too long on one topic. "How was your evening?"

"Well, I read another magazine, and then ate some fruit. Mostly just chilled out," Fluttershy replied, smiling.

"You look quite tired," Lorraine said, putting away her shoes. "You should get some rest.

"What's that warm draft I feel?" Jack asked, his face full of concern and suspicion. He turned to Fluttershy. "Did you fiddle with the thermostat?"